Scientology's 2015 in review: In March, HBO went Clear while we eavesdropped on Flag - 2015-12-23

The cats are curled tight against the chill down here in the Bunker as we dive into another winter, and they've become awfully vocal lately about the treats schedule. (They're fanatical about observing the seasons properly, even if the conditions don't really call for it. The calendar might say it's winter, it's true, but it's been practically tropical in New York this December. Thanks, Obama.)

With Christmas just a couple of days away, we're continuing our look back at 2015, and this time we're remembering the highlights of March. The month was just a few days old when we got another fun update on Alex Gibney's documentary: Going Clear would be scheduled to make its theatrical debut in New York, San Francisco, and Los Angeles on Friday, March 13 — which happened to be L. Ron Hubbard's birthday. The movie played in theaters for a couple of weeks to make it eligible for Oscar contention. Now, nine months later, we can't help thinking it does have a decent shot at a nomination. Fingers crossed.

A few days later, we reported that we'd heard from some of the people who appear in the film that they'd suddenly experienced a surge of harassment. It was the usual stuff — private investigator shenanigans and other silliness. But Mike Rinder had received a pretty scary threat, and another participant in the film was shaken up by a personal visit from a church operative. Meanwhile, the online smears were coming hot and heavy. Scientology was lashing out, and all it did was make people want to see the film even more.